Grief is a powerful emotion, and, when done well, is
palpable for the reader. I used it
extensively in my novel, The
Mistaken. It was the perfect vehicle
for moving my plot forward:

Tyler’s wife is killed. In unbearable pain, he seeks revenge and uses
that as a means to free his brother from the Russian mafia. He makes poor choices, things go very wrong,
and all hell breaks loose.

The key to sharing the character’s grief is making the
reader care about him first. That
requires time, building a relationship, creating depth and layers, making him
happy, learning what and whom he
cares about most. Then when that’s all
taken away—bam!—we actually feel his
pain.

At this point, all he wants is to be left alone, but that
won’t work. You have to stir the pot,
have another character confront him with his grief, pulling it out for all to
see and feel. But even then, you have to
make his suffering worse, hit him while he’s down, not allow him the time or
space to heal. It’s a low blow, but
tragedy is unpredictable and often comes in multiples, and it’s in these
multiple ways we see, feel, and experience the near-destruction of our
character.

At his point, give him a way to deal with his pain, but not
necessarily in a good way. People often
make poor choices when they’re at their lowest, so this is the perfect
opportunity to add conflict and tension.

While he tries to deal with all the turmoil of his grief and
poor choices, he is bound to meet new people, folks with whom he can share his
pain, who can offer a new perspective, shake things up, set him on a better
path, and show him he can live again. His life is different now, changed in ways he
never wanted, but will make him feel glad that he’s alive.

You made such a great point... for a reader to care about a person's grief, they have to care about the person. I think we all would feel sorry for someone who suffered loss, but our heart breaks for people we care about who suffer loss.

About Me

Mother, wife, author, editor, designer.
I am the author of two dark romantic thrillers, The Mistaken, my debut, and Leverage, the sequel. I'm currently working on my third novel, a psycho-sexual thriller titled Stirred